Consolation hug: The show's golden boy Ryan Seacrest rushed over to offer commissions after the decision

Down in the dumps: But he will still be the envy of his friends after being in the presence of the top DJ

No need for that: He unsubtly gave a message to the audience at home what he thought of their decision

Lazaro, a likeable ice-cream scooper from Florida, has served up a slew of
mediocre performances in the last few weeks - forgetting his words and
being horribly off key and pitch at times. But the public took pity on the
21-year-old yet again - and he was miraculously placed in the
top three – a decision none of the judges, nor Jimmy Iovine, agreed with.

‘There can only be one person going home tonight and that’s Lazaro,’ said
the top music executive, before Burnell's rejection.

After a staggering 25 million votes from viewers the top three contestants
were picked as orphaned Texan Kree Harrison, food services
worker Angie Miller, and the severely speech impaired Lazaro.

Next to be saved was administrative assistant Candice Glover and Amber
‘legs for days’ Holcomb – both favourites for the judges and Jimmy.

Singing for his supper: The unemployed wannabe could have a new job as a club singer after his success

Oozing with confidence: His fellow competitors looked worried due to his wonderfully smooth delivery

That left ‘Southern Belle’ Janelle Arthur and 19-year-old Burnell at the
bottom of the barrel.

‘I love you both dearly,’ said Mariah before breaking down in floods of
tears.

Burnell was left singing for his life with the India Arie ballad Ready For
Love. He was hoping the judges would make a unanimous decision to use
their single ‘save of the season’ to keep him in.

But it wasn’t to be.

‘I’m sorry, no,’ said Randy Jackson.

‘Good luck brother, we love you, we love you,’ he sighed to the teen, who
had worked hard to lose a lot of weight during the competition

Before the elimination the Idol top seven kicked off the night by singing
Queen’s 1976 hit Somebody to Love.

Carrie Underwood has had 17 number one hits since her Idol win eight years
ago – wearing a peach ball she performed her new single See
You Again, and welled up when describing what Idol meant to her.

Blunder Down Under: Australian Keith Urban made no secret of his feelings about the shocking dismissal

Semi-standing ovation: The judges gave the unemployed hopeful a warm round of applause afterwards

‘I have so much love for this show…I’m going to cry,’ she said as her
voice cracked.

Now a multi-platinum artist Underwood, winner from Idol season four, was
once an Oklahoma farm girl who had ‘never even been on an airplane’.

On her original audition tape, which was replayed for nostalgia’s sake,
the six-time Grammy winner said: ‘I have never been to a big city like
Hollywood before, I’ve never even flown anywhere before.’

As usual music mogul Jimmy Iovine dished out some tough love for the
contestants.

‘Most people chose the wrong song last night,’ said the veteran producer,
referring to Wednesday rock music night.

He criticised Burnell for singing ‘behind the beat’ with Bon Jovi's You
Give Love a Bad Name, but did not place him at the bottom
of the pile.

No beating around the bush: Music mogul Jimmy Iovine slammed his badly timed melodies on his Bon Jovi cover

‘He gave rock a bad name last night…it sounded like the band was playing
on east coast time and he was singing on west coast time,’ he jibed.

He said that Lazaro and Angie murdered Queen’s Crazy Little Thing Called
Love and compared them to bad wedding singers.

‘I would have cancelled the wedding,’ he said.

‘They completely missed the point of the song. Freddie Mercury would never
have written a song the way they sang it,’ he sniffed.

Suffering from a ‘pinched nerve’ last night Kree still managed to impress
the panel and the voting public.

Skating on thin ice cream: Experts believe professional scooper Lazaro Arbos should have been axed

‘She sings with dignity this girl,’ praised Jimmy, who was also satisfied
with Janelle’s performance.

‘Janelle did a competent job last night...I put her right in the middle,’
he said.

Unlike Randy, Jimmy did not rate the girls’ group song from last night.

‘I agree with Nicki, the only thing that was good about that was Amber’s
jeans,’ he said.

He also noted Amber’s vast improvement over the weeks: ‘Amber is on her
way to having the whole package,’ he said.

Despite having ‘the wind machine on tornado’ during her last routine Angie
impressed Jimmy.

‘She gave a beautiful performance,’ he said, adding that she needs to sing
more with her ‘heart and gut’ than her brain.

Back to her roots: Carrie Underwood returned to the show that made her a mega star and showed how it should be done

Favourite son: Former finalist Casey James showed he could easily wipe the floor with this year's crop

All four judges and Jimmy named their ‘top three’ favourites to win.

Jimmy picked Angie, Kree and Candice.

Keith’s were Kree, Angie and Amber.

Nicki’s were the same as Keith’s - but she was miffed when her preferences
were announced.

‘I didn’t know this was going to be told to the world…so thanks Nigel,’
she said referring to Nigel Lythgoe, the 63-year-old producer of the
Idol.

When asked to explain her choice she said: ‘I feel like they are girls’
girls and they could really go far in this industry.’

The real American Idol: Ryan proved he is as talented as he is handsome as he strummed the guitar

She also complimented Amber on being a ‘young Whitney Houston’.

Randy said he wanted to include Candice too: ‘She is unbelievable as
well,’ he said.

Mariah went with Jimmy and chose Candice over Angie – as well as Kree and
Amber.

The Butterfly singer, 42, said the decision was a tough one: ‘They
basically bound and gagged me in my trailer, I have more of a
top five than a top three,’ she said.

Shaggy-haired Season Nine finalist Casey James dropped by to sing and
strum The Good Life, a track he wrote himself.

‘American Idol changed my life,’ said the 30-year-old Denver boy, who has
a self-titled country album out.

Mobbed: Burnell Taylor was crowded by his rivals who were doubtlessly relieved he had been vanquished